The Hidden Ones:Lion's Light
by Golden Lioness-Goldie
Summary: ON HIATUS! ALL CHAPTERS, REWRITE IN PROGRESS! FORMAT WILL CHANGE.
1. Border Patrol

**A/N: Okay, for the Akatsuki lovers, these are the names of the characters who will survive: Deidara(Yeah!), Itachi(Hehe, weasel), Kisame(If he eats sushi, is that cannibalism?), Zetsu(AKA Venus Guy Trap). **

* * *

My story? You really wanna know? Are you sure? Yes? All right then. IF you really want to know everything, I guess I should start off at the very beginning.

I was pretty positive I was stuck in a dream. But wouldn't anyone in my position? Think about it, I was sitting across from _the_ hottest guy in the village, and he's looking at me like I'm criminally insane. Of course, this was kinda understandable, considering as I had just suggested I throw myself straight into the middle of a large amount of probably fatal violence. On the other hand, it was a little strange; because that sort of thing was both my job and something I was top at doing. I was fifteen and the Main Corps commander! I commanded boys who were anywhere from ten to thirty years older than me. Then again, I was still nursing three broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, a cracked skull, and a sprained wrist. It was mostly not my fault, of course, but I will admit I got a little too flamboyant with the paper bombs. So, I sat in the Kazekage's office and stewed for about five minutes while my hot sixteen-year-old boss took five minutes to think. Then, he said (And I quote),

"Perhaps you think this is a good idea, Mikomi, but I am sorry. You were so severely injured on your last mission, which, as always, was successful, that I am forced to take you off active duty. At least until you can convince your mother to heal your injuries."

That was when I crushed the arm of my metal chair into a lump of formless steel. I didn't give a damn how hot my boss was, there was no way in _hell _he could take me off active duty.

"_Off active duty!_" My voice shot from soprano to dog whistle. "Sir, the entire force is lost without me! Really, I'm sorry, but no matter how injured I may be, I am _always_ fit for active duty!"

At this point, I slammed my hand(The right one with the sprained wrist) onto his polished wood desk, splitting it neatly in half. Papers flew everywhere, the vase of flowers fell and crashed to the floor, the Kazekage leapt up out of his seat, and my wrist began to throb. In turn, I had probably pissed Gaara off. Not a good thing. Ever.

"Oops."

His gravelly voice answered me. "Oops indeed. If you insist, Mikomi, I will inform your squad that you are,"and he smirked, _smirked_, "on _border patrol_ for a _month_."

"_WHAT?_"

"Have I made myself clear?"

"Uh-but-but-but-"

"_Have I made myself clear?_"

"C-c-c-crystal! Sorry sir! Goodnight sir!"

* * *

I stormed home, fuming. _Border patrol. Seriously! Border patrol! I am so _stupid_!_

I banged through the front door of the apartment I lived in with my mother, Nanaho. Strangely, she was home. Mom's a medic, a really good one. Her kind gray eyes looked at me, full of concern.

"Mikomi? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah Mom, something is very wrong. Kazekage-sama is putting me on a month of border patrol!"

"What did you do this time, Mikomi?"

Here we go. "I got mad when he tried to take me off active duty till I healed and I broke his desk and crushed a metal chair."

My mother exploded into a whirlwind of deep red hair, steely gray eyes and killer intent. "_MIKOMI AKIKO KIN'IROAME!_"

Oh boy. "Eeep."

"WHAT IN KAMI'S NAME WERE YOU THINKING, YOUNG LADY?"

"Well, I, I, uhhm, I-"

"YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED! BORDER PATROL IS _NOT_ THE PUNISHMENT I WOULD CHOOSE FOR DOING SUCH A THING! WERE I THE KAZEKAGE, YOU WOULD BE UNDER HOUSE ARREST FOR _SIX MONTHS_!"

"Mom, I know you're mad! Please, I understand that I was wrong to lose my temper! I will accept the border patrol punishment!"

My mother deliberated for a moment, arms crossed. "Well...Fine. Perhaps you will learn to better control your fiery temper."

"Who did I get that from anyway?"

"Partly me. Mostly your father. Say one wrong thing around him and he would up and go kill somebody."

"Remind me why I can't tell people who he is?"

"Because, Mikomi, he isn't exactly on the top of the 'most loved dad' list. More like the top of the 'World's Most Wanted Rogue Ninja' list."

"Right. Sorry. I forgot."

"Don't you have a wall to guard, hon?"

"Can I eat lunch first?'

My mother chuckled. "Do you ever stop eating off missions, sweetheart?'

"Yeah."

"Just take a bento box with you. Top shelf of the fridge."

"Okay Mom. What types are there?"

"What types? It's a bento box! There's only one type in the first place!"

"Okay, okay! Sorry! Yeesh!"

* * *

I wandered slowly towards the outer wall of the village. I was just dying to eat my bento box. _Ugh. I could have sworn my stomach wasn't eating itself a minute ago._As I tramped at the speed of banana slug, I somehow walked into Baki, the former sensei of Kazekage Gaara. He's a respected council member, but he's also respected by Gaara. Gaara probably told him the entire episode in his office. Crap. He thought I was nuts. He may have been right, but then I can't tell if I'm nuts or not, being me.

"Ah! Commander Kin'iroame! Heading to the wall?"

"Hello, Baki. Yes, I am. I presume Kazekage-sama has informed you of recent events?"

"Oh, yes. You do," Baki actually looked concerned at this, "look pretty beat up, even for you."

"Flamboyancy is the defining factor. I'm sorry to cut this...delightful...conversation short, but I do have a wall to guard."

"Of course."

Curse the Corps and being well-known! Well, well-known inside the village, that is. If I was well-known elsewhere, I'd be dead. I finally reached the wall of the village. I knew the drill (I've been punished with border patrol for years) and reported to the Jonin in charge. Today, it was Kankuro, which was surprising. He's Gaara's elder brother, but he's also a bit of a pervert. Considering the bruises on his face (covered in his so-called sunscreen we all know is makeup) I would guess he made the mistake of peeking at the baths while his older sister, Temari, was in there. Temari is (somewhat) volatile and tends to beat up first, get answers next and apologize never. Maybe it has something to do with her being a blond. Then again, she's one of my few friends, so more power to her. Kankuro looked surprised to see me reporting to him. I mean, really, I have higher rank than him. Being a troublemaker doesn't help me any, but I still garner some kind of respect. I think.

"Mikomi? Did you piss off my brother again or something?"

I sighed. "Yes, Kankuro, I did. To forestall your probable barrage of questions, I lost my temper in the grandest, most desk-splitting way possible. Just tell me where to go."

He looked at me like I was the most ignorant genin.

"Er... go to the left side of the lower wall. You'll be relieving Ginei, he's been up there for ten hours."

"Okay, Kankuro. By the way, your makeup is doing a cruddy job of hiding those bruises."

A vein popped on his forehead. "It's not makeup! it's sunscreen!"

"I thought you rubbed in sunscreen, not painted designs on your face like a civilian kid's dolly."

"That's insubordination, Mikomi!"

"Technically I have far higher rank than you. You are a Special Jonin, while I am a full Jonin, so any insubordination is being committed by you."

I took my place at the wall. Ginei, poor fellow, looked half dead. I told him to go home, take a shower, eat something and take a nap. He gladly left, thanking me profusely for coming on time. I steeled myself for the oncoming boredom. I was totally prepared, and was just beginning several fantasies in my head about Gaara. Mainly without him punishing me for anything. Gazing blankly at the desert, I almost didn't notice the moving patch on the horizon. Almost. I looked closer, grabbing a set of binoculars. Kankuro called, "Do you see something?"

"Yes, but I can't tell whether or not it's a threat."

"Keep looking, Mikomi. Find out what it is."

I glared through the binoculars. Whatever it was, it was at least six feet tall-wait, no, five foot eleven, with a long stick-like thing, a staff, maybe. The sun, setting now, shone off of something just as it fell into my range of sight.

"Dear Kami! Kankuro! Kankuro! It's a girl! She's hurt!"

Kankuro rushed to me. "Go get her. How bad do you think it is?"

"Broken leg and arm, for certain. Ribs, maybe. Go call my mother, this girl may be a little hard to move."

I took off across the desert, sending up a plume of sand worthy of Gaara. Ten seconds, and I stopped in front of the girl just as she collapsed onto the sand, her bleeding left hand grasping at a flat rock nearbly. The only thoughts in my mind as I picked her up were, _Her sword is nearly seven feet long. Must be a Guillotine . I thought only Zabuza Momochi of Mist could use one._The girl, I guessed, was probably about eighteen, Kankuro's age. She was almost exactly five feet eleven inches tall. Her eyes appeared blinded, and recently, too. I was right in thinking that her leg and arm were broken, in fact, her humerus was snapped in half and her femur had a spiral fracture. She had the tattered remains of a bandage mask hanging off her neck, usually used to conceal something identifying. These had definitely been used for that purpose. On each cheek, two black stripes, about an inch wide, stood out like a sore thumb. Still running toward the village, I guessed that they were some kind of marking, for someone who worshipped tigers, maybe. Then, I saw, poking from her slightly open mouth, a pair of inch-and-a-half long fangs, with slightly shorter bottom ones. Cat fangs, big cat fangs, tiger or lion, possibly.

She was extremely heavy, and the sword alone must have weighed a good hundred and ten pounds, so I was moving much slower than I usually did. I finally reached the gate, where my mother and a team of medics waited with a stretcher. I set the girl down. I finally got a good look at her. She was very pretty, even beaten to a pulp. Her skin was slightly tanner than mine (unfair) but just barely. Her hair was long(ish) and ended about the middle of her back, and had a specific pattern of ice-blue stripes, two on the left and right and one that only covered her bangs. The rest of her hair was black. As my mother and the medic ninjas hurried to the hospital, leaving me with the sword, I noticed a small design on the butt end of the sword handle. A clock face, painted at one minute to midnight, with a jagged crack running through it. I knew what this meant. _Time's Misfortune_, AKA Momochi. The last thought that ran through my mind as I raced into the hospital was, _Who on Earth is this girl? She can't be Momochi! She can't!_

* * *

_**Yo! Thanks for reading my first chapter! Be a nice person and push the green button! Momochi can also mean Peach Blood, but the meaning I used is a little better.  
**_


	2. The Klutz from the Mist Village

**A/N: ****I use some very odd slang in Mikomi's speech, like think-space, straight-swing, pervy-talk, peeker-brain and tree-fly. And, though I know I shouldn't, MUST begin my AVATAR story or I swear to High Kami I WILL explode!  
**

* * *

I stood in the hospital lobby waiting for my mother to come out of the examination room. She had been waiting on the outskirts of the village when the team Kankuro had called carried the mysterious girl into the village. I idly looked into the mirror on the wall of the lobby, and thought about how I could possibly get any guy, let alone Gaara. Sure I had pretty, straight features, but I thought my nose was a bit long. My lips were somewhat thin, but they were well shaped. They were a light beige. This was expected, though, since my skin was paler than Gaara's was, but not milky white. More like Jamie Rae (A type of pale pink rose). My hair was beautiful, long and black as a starless night. It flowed to just above my knees since I didn't want to cut it. The strange thing was, the last foot was a sunny, shiny gold. So were the tips of my hair, which fell over my eyes.

My eyes were the part of my face I thought were strangest. They were a golden-green, not quite hazel, not quite green, yet they had occasional strips of gray throughout. I had slit pupils, like a cat. While I had thick, long black eyelashes, the eye of the beholder was always attracted to the light purple marks around my eyes. They looked like eyeliner and eyeshadow, totally permanent. It looked kind of cool, but I must admit that I also looked like a scene kid. I am also very short. I have been five feet tall exactly for about five years, since I turned ten. I have tiny feet and hands, long thin fingers, and sharp nails. I generally wear a purple colored shirt and black pants off-duty. Oh, and I have retractable fangs full of a paralytic poison that kills in a large enough dose. And I mustn't forget my extending tongue. Oh yes, I have one. Quite useful at times, really, but I know it freaks people out. I was taught the way to activate it when I was three, and constantly used it for years as an alternative to getting up and opening the cabinets of weapons or the fridge.

The light on the examination room sign flicked off and my mother walked out. "Mom?"

She looked at me and gave her quiet, kindly smile. "I have managed to heal her eyes. Luckily for her, she merely had a lot of sand and dust in them. Her arm and leg will be kept in a cast for the next few weeks. They are very fragile and could snap at any time. Her ribs are merely bruised, and, in some stroke of luck, there was no major internal bleeding. I want you to stay with her."

"Huh? Why me? I have to stand border patrol."

My mother shook her head the way she always did when she thought I was being particularly blockheaded. "Silly girl, I already spoke to the Kazekage. He told me that it was fine, but you couldn't go on another mission for a month. Go sit in there with her. From what I can tell, she's barely eighteen. She may even be seventeen or sixteen."

I knew it. "Alright, mom, but I want to examine her sword."

"Take it with you."

facepalm. "Riiiight."

* * *

I sat on a bench in the corner of the hospital room. The girl slumbered away quietly in the bed by the window. I had taken about fifteen minutes to lug the humongous sword into the room without slicing open the floor (and my leg). I had no idea how this girl could possibly lift it, let alone carry it on her back with a broken leg. She had been dressed in a regulation hospital gown, but my mother had the decency to put on two, back to front, so that when she woke up and began walking, her behind wouldn't poke out of the back.

Her hair was splayed all over the pillow. It was definitely weird. Most of it was black. However, the stripes of blue, free from the dirt, sand and blood that had caked them, proved to be such a bright blue that they looked like ice. Her mouth was now shut, and I noticed how her fangs didn't show through or poke over her lips. I could understand this with mine, as they are small, barely half an inch longer than my normal teeth when I fully extend them. But hers? They were a full inch and a half long! She had a pair of inch-long ones on her lower jaw as well, for crying out loud! I turned my attention to her ridiculous sword. Beautiful metal, well crafted. A blade built by a master, definitely. The Momochi symbol was driving me nuts.

I pressed the button for the nurse. A young civilian came in and asked, "Do you need something, Miss Mikomi?"

I answered with the air of someone who couldn't believe they had to ask. "Yes, I need a bingo book to look up the patient's origins."

The nurse nodded and walked to the assassin ANBU outside the door. He came in a minute later, handed me a slim black book, and left without a word. I flicked to M.

"Michi, Mikoto, Momochi! Here we go!"

I looked at the shot of Zabuza Momochi. I flipped the page. Nothing. The N's started two pages later, after Murasaki. The only Momochi in the book was Zabuza. "Damn!"

I would just have to wait until she woke up to find out who she was. Her eyes were bandaged, since my mother thought they might still be sensitive to light at first. I yawned and rubbed the back of my neck. A soft knock sounded on the door.

"Come in."

Gaara walked in, and I stood up to attention. He sat down on the chair next to me and said, "As you were." I sat back down and he continued. "Have you found anything?"

I shook my head and sighed. "I looked in the bingo book, but there isn't anyone who looks like her in it. I thought she might be a relative of Zabuza Momochi of Mist, but I couldn't find anything. I did notice a whited-out strip in the book on Zabuza's page under 'Relatives', but that could just be a parent. Anyway, until I know her name, we're at a dead end, sir."

Gaara frowned slightly, stood and turned his head to look at the girl. "How old do the doctors say she is?"

"Anywhere from sixteen to eighteen."

He turned back to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Keep trying, Mikomi. I am sure you can figure this puzzle out."

He turned on his heel and silently slipped out the door. I watched his retreating back, then turned to the girl. I sighed, rewrapped the sword in the bandages I had gotten from the Puppet Corps, and settled myself down to sleep.

* * *

After three days, the girl began to stir in her sleep. My mother dragged me out of the sushi bar down the street before I finished my lunch. I tried to swallow my last tempura shrimp as I was thrown into the hospital room. My mother whirled around and began hissing instructions.

"Tell her where she is, how bad her injuries were, caution her about her eyes, which are still bandaged, tell her who you are, and be sure to ask her name. The IV has a sleeping drug in it that I want you to use on her once you have her name. Take it to the Analyzer Corps as soon as she's asleep again"

She left, and I turned my attention to the stirring figure in the hospital bed. I felt her chakra spike as she jerked awake. He good arm moved up to feel at the bandage covering her eyes. I slipped up my hand and gently removed hers from her face, then spoke in the soothing tone you use on hurt animals and toddlers.

"Everything's alright. You are in Sunagakure hospital right now. You were found outside the eastern entrance. My mother, the chief medic here, healed your arm, leg, ribs and eyes. They are still bandaged because they may still be sensitive to light. My name is Mikomi. What's yours?"

I did my best to sound like a civilian. To my surprise, she answered clearly in a voice that sounded like chimes made of ice. She was still slightly stoned, probably unaware that she just gave a complete stranger her full name.

"My name is Yuki. Yuki Momochi. I want to get up."

I smiled, then pressed the IV control.

"I'll talk to you when you wake up again, Yuki. You still need rest."

"Kay..."

I left with the name _Yuki Momochi_. My guess was right.

* * *

I banged out of the Analyzer Corps building five minutes later, barely more knowledgeable than I was before. The idiots in the building looked up the name and turned up a four-year-old girl with no description that drowned in Mizugakure fourteen years ago. As the Yuki in the hospital was most definitely not four and totally alive, I called them a pack of dumb dogs and stormed out of the building, back to the hospital to wake her up. As I crashed through the door, slowing to a pissed off walk, I turned my thoughts to something that always comforted me: Memories of my father. They were fuzzy and feeble, but they were genuine memories. I stepped back into my memories, of the time before I came to Sunagakure, the year I turned three.

A flash of my father laughing, his snowy-pale face alive below me as he threw me into the air, then his long black hair splayed on the ground as I tackled him, only to find myself upside-down, hung by the ankles from his large, long hands. My big brother, whom I hadn't seen since Mom and I had to leave my birthplace, sitting on my father's broad shoulders as I jumped for the ice cream cone my dad held above his head, out of reach of me, with my brother already licking his own, getting it all over his nose. Every memory was further blurred by near-constant rain. I then proceeded to trip over the doorjamb outside Yuki's room. Typical. She was awake, and her eyes widened as she took in my appearance. Her mouth became a small O of surprise. I guess she thought I wouldn't look like a creepy snake that stayed inside all the time. She blinked and quickly closed her mouth. I giggled and sat on the side of her bed.

"You have every right to be shocked. My appearance is at odds with my voice. How are you feeling?"

She blinked again, then gave a small smile. "Oh, fine. I am a bit bored with this hospital bed and I'm a little hungry, but otherwise alright. Nanaho-sama changed the casts for some braces. I heal fast. You, uh... look a little angry."

"I just have to deal with idiots who haven't got any think-space in their heads."

"Think-what?'

I gave a tiny smile. Many people don't understand my personal brand of slang at first. "Think-space is my slang for someone's ability to think. It's okay, most people don't get it at first."

She nodded, her striped hair bobbing on her back. She then proceeded to stretch her back and say, "Am I allowed to get up and about yet? My legs are falling asleep sitting here."

I turned around and called out to the hall for the clothes that were made for her. I saw her bright fanged grin out of the corner of my eye, but she would speak without hardly moving her lips. I guess I wasn't meant to see the fangs. As I turned back around, I asked, "How old are you? the doctors weren't sure whether you were sixteen or around eighteen."

"I'm eighteen. You?"

"Fifteen, but I'm Jonin. Are you?"

She looked shocked. "A Jonin at fifteen? Wow. I'm a Jonin, but I've only been one for a year or two. "

I smirked, pleased. "I spent almost all my time training as a child. Most of my friends are some years older than me. I think the closest one I have is about your age, Yuki. Her name is Temari. You may like her."

Yuki looked at me with a question in her eyes as the nurse came in with the light blue and black clothes Mom had ordered made. "What's she like, this...Temari?"

"She's very athletic and smart, but she also has a volatile temper and a tendency to trip over her own ankles. Like you do, she uses a larger-than-normal weapon, in her case a fan made of steel. I haven't the slightest clue how she can carry that thing and still tree-fly without pulling a straight-swing."

Yuki laughed behind the curtain where she was changing. "I guess that means you can't believe she can carry her fan and run through trees without falling over from the counterweight, right?"

"Sharp as an ANBU blade, you are. Are you ready yet?"

Her head poked out from behind the curtain. She blew her blue bang out of her eye and said, "As soon as I have my sword and hitae-ate, I'll be ready."

I frowned. "Can we trust you with the sword? We also haven't seen a hitae-ate, otherwise we would already have informed your village leader."

Yuki looked a little shocked. "But-wait a minute-"

With that, she felt underneath the brace on her leg. "I found it! It's under my brace! I turned it inside out so that the metal wouldn't freeze!"

She proceeded to plop down on the chair and painstakingly dig it out of the brace. She finally pulled it out with an explosive "Ahaha!" I stared openly at the symbol etched on the metal. _Mist_...It all made sense. The giant sword, Mist was known for oversized weapons like that, the hair, Mist's village colors were blue, black and white. Her name...The Momochi were a once-powerful, supposedly now-extinct clan of silent killing masters from Mizugakure. Yuki saw my Tex-Avery unhinged jaw and said, "Oops. I guess you didn't know where I was from. Don't worry, my sympathies lie with the Leaf village, and thus with the Sand."

I sighed. What a relief. Mist was neutral for now, but different people in the village had different opinions. I handed her the sword (Well, more like flipped her the handle, there was no way I could pick that thing up) and watched her grab the carrier she had, place it on her back, and slot the sword into it with the ease of much practice, hefting the seven-foot steel blade as easily as if she was picking up a kunai. She saw me staring again and giggled. "Bit of a surprise, huh? Guess these swords aren't as heavy as they look! Let's go! Oh, can I call you Mikki? That is, if you don't mind?"

I blinked. No one had ever called me by a nickname except Temari, who constantly called me Imoto-chan, little sister. I, in turn, called her Onee-chan, big sister. My father had always called me his little hime, his princess, but nobody had wanted to call me a nickname that shortened my real one. They were all older, and more than a little afraid of me. So, I was by no means opposed to Yuki calling me Mikki. "Well, I, I, uh...sure! That'd be cool! Let's go walk around the village! I know a great shop with onigiri, natto and ramen we could go to!"

With that, I led the way out of the hospital room. Yuki followed, but tripped just outside the door where there was nothing but flat wood. She turned pink and muttered something that sounded like, "Stupid, stupid, stupid! How many Jonin trip over nothing on a regular basis"? There was a short silence, then she hissed under her breath, "Shut up, Osoreru." Hmmm...Osoreru...To fear? Weird. I decided then and there that I would find her a place to stay, then go sign up for Assassination Corps in official ANBU. What this meant was a). I got that awesome spiral tattoo, and b). I gained access to the library with all the books and scrolls on ancient legends, the Jinchuriki, Biju, and forbidden jutsu, and c). I probably would rarely leave the village, but get paid another thousand ryu a day!

As I finished that thought, I stopped in front of the brand-new Sunagakure branch of Ichiraku Ramen, run by the founder Teuchi's nephew. Yuki took one look and her eyes bugged out.

"Seriously? Ichiraku has a location in Suna! YEEEEHAAAAAHAHAHAHA!"

Wow. I was starting to wonder if she was bipolar. I said, "Well, we'll eat and then I can find you somewhere to stay, since you obviously don't need the hospital anymore. Hey, Satoshi!"

The owner of the ramen shop came over with a large smile on his face. "Hey, Mikomi! The usual for you today?"

I laughed. "Unless you have something new, yes! This is Yuki, by the way. She's visiting from Mizugakure."

Satoshi looked at Yuki and grinned wider, if that was even possible. He had a very visible blush on his cheeks, and he was grinning in an amazed way. "Hi! What kind of ramen do you want? I guess you're here with Mikomi, right?"

Yuki nodded. "Uh huh. What's Mikki gonna eat?"

Satoshi looked a little surprised a the nickname, but said, "Beef brisket and rice noodles in beef broth with extra onions and _naruto_."

Yuki nodded again. "That's my favorite kind of ramen too! I'll have the same thing, please!"

Satoshi nodded and walked off into the depths of the bar. At this point in time, Temari decided to show up out of the blue (or brown, since she popped out of the nearby shoe store). She saw me, yelled, "Imoto-chan!" and proceeded to glomp me. I fought to get free to breathe, and, being five feet tall and barely 90 pounds compared to her five foot eight and 125 pounds, I was having absolutely zero luck. So, I used what little air I had left, and said, "Onee-chan! Choking, not breathing!"

Temari backed off with an "Oops" and plonked into the bar stool next to me. She then looked at Yuki and said in her indomitable fashion, "So you're the weird girl that collapsed in front of the walls, huh?"

Yuki turned a slow but bright pink, whereas I nodded, elbowed Temari in the ribs, and hissed "Shut up, onee-chan. She's from Mist and her name is Yuki. Before you ask, she's eighteen."

At this point, Satoshi came back with Yuki's and my ramen. Temari greeted him with a grin and a softly shouted order for a miso ramen. She turned to me as he left again and asked, "So. Does Yuki have a place to stay?"

My mouth was stuffed with noodles. "Mphrglmph?"

As Temari rolled her eyes, I swallowed my noodles and said in an exasperated tone, "No. Not yet, anyway. Lemme eat, Mom didn't let me finish lunch for three whole days."

I continued to stuff my face with the delicious, succulent, soft noodles and savory beef and broth. Temari waited until I had swallowed another bite, then said, "Well, Kankuro has an extra bedroom and bathroom in that new apartment of his."

I began to choke on my noodles, whereas Yuki turned to Temari and asked, "How old is Kankuro-san?"

Temari clapped me on the back repeatedly as she told Yuki, "He's your age. Kankuro is my younger brother, but my youngest brother is the Kazekage."

Yuki's mouth became a small "O" again. She quickly recovered and asked, "Would he mind? I mean, I'm kind of clumsy..."

Temari laughed. "You can't be that bad. Kankuro's managed to trip over his own sandals once or twice a day for sixteen years, and only that since he learned to walk when he was two."

Yuki turned the color of a beet. "I, uh, well, I trip over nothing at all or else a nonexistant pebble almost all the time. I accidentally fell into a river when I was younger because I turned left instead of right."

I watched as Temari blinked slowly, swallowing her noodles and carefully wiping her mouth. "But you have that gigantic sword, how can-Ouch!" I elbowed her in the side. She took the hint and continued in a different vein. "I mean, you and Kankuro will get along just fine!"

About five minutes later, we had all finished our ramen. I paid Satoshi and motioned to Yuki to follow me. In the space of a short lunch, we had become fast friends. She seemed so familiar, like I already knew her, but that wasn't possible. I had never once been to Mist or Leaf. When I took the Chuunin exams, they were held in Iwagakure. I had been appalled at their extraordinarily militaristic lifestyle. Even the Suna ANBU had more freedom than the genin, though we had been under the Fourth Kazekage. I gave Yuki directions to Kankuro's with a quick letter explaining the situation. I told her that if he wasn't at his home, she should go to my mother and get help. She readily agreed and set off. I took to the rooftops, heading to the Kazekage Tower.

I decided to be polite for once and go in the front door instead of an upper window like usual, and, as I entered, immediately regretted that decision as I came across one of my least favorite people, Matsuri. She was Gaara's student, but everyone, except, probably, Gaara himself, knew she was head-over-heels for the redheaded Kazekage. She followed him everywhere, reminding me of a duckling that has mistaken a very male German Shepherd for its mother. I knew that, were Gaara not famous for being romantically oblivious, Matsuri would be either dead or living somewhere else. Even my mother, who I considered to be the most tolerant person I knew, was annoyed by Matsuri's sickly puppylove. She glared at me as I walked in, saying in a snide voice, "Can I help you, Mikomi?"

I considered telling her she could help me by getting the hell out of the country, but decided on a simple "No, thank you. I'm just going to see the Kazekage. Oh, by the way, that's Kin'iroame-san to you, Matsuri-chan."

I stalked up the stairs, hearing a strangled protest behind me. I smiled, and the secretary walking by jumped and squashed himself as close to the wall as possible. My smiles could be okay, but only when I felt kind. More often than not, my smiles appeared to scream one thing. As my mother had so aptly put it, "That smile of yours just screams 'Why don't we see what color your insides are, hm?'. Honestly, Mikomi, even your father couldn't grin that creepily. I'm sure you could beat the Kazekage in a glaring contest."

_Speaking of which. _I knocked softly on the door of Gaara's office. His gravelly, deep voice greeted me. "Enter."

I took a deep breath, then began the rest of my life.

* * *

**A/N: Finally! Finished this chappie! Hooray! I did start my AVATAR story, so if you're interested, look it up on my profile!**


	3. Cookies and the Carnivore's Sushi

**A/N: Yay! Third Chappie! I am finally getting past the writer's block I have had for some months!**

**

* * *

**As I entered Gaara's office, I noticed three things. One, Gaara was not wearing his overrobe that was part of his Kazekage outfit. So, he was wearing only a pair of black pants and a dark blue shirt. Two, Gaara's everpresent gourd was neither on his back nor in the room at all. Three, the entire room smelled like apple blossom, a scent that was very rare in our desert village. He glanced up at me, then looked back at the paper he was reading, a mission report by the looks of it. "Mikomi-san. Do you need to discuss something with me?"

I nodded, head down. "Yes, Kazekage-sama. I wish to ask about transferring to ANBU, possibly in Assassination. I feel like I have been in the main assault core too long, and that my abilities would be better suited to ANBU."

He said nothing. So, I stood there waiting. Eventually, he put the paper down and folded his hands on top of the table. "ANBU, hm? Interesting. I had figured on a request like this, thus I have already prepared an answer. Mikomi, I think that you could be a very valuable ANBU. So, I will allow you to join on one condition."

"What's that, Kazekage-sama?"

"I need a Taijutsu tutor, and you have a fighting style appropriate for me to learn. I can't rely on my sand all the time, Mikomi. Now, why do you think I asked you to teach me?"

Teach him? I just about died right then and there. Then, once my head was back in order, I answered. "Well, sir, most other possible candidates are far older than I, but may not have as much experience. Also, my style is specially suited for people under six feet in height. You are how tall, sir?"

"Five foot three." He seemed a little disgruntled, but hey, he was the Kazekage. Generally, you don't expect a shinobi of that caliber to be short.

"Five foot three. You are a mere three inches taller than myself, making it difficult for you to fight someone taller and heavier without the aid of your sand."

"Correct. In this case, you have an intriguing ability to turn an enemy's superior height or weight against them. I would like to learn this. Will you consider it?"

"Sir, I... I don't need to consider it. I will teach you everything I know, if you will allow it. "

He nodded. "Good. Let's begin as soon as possible, say, tomorrow afternoon. Are you free?"

I was definitely free. To hell with the dentist! I'd go later, before dinner. "Of course, Kazekage-sama."

I turned to leave when Gaara called out, "Oh, Mikomi... Call me Gaara, please."

* * *

I exited his office with my nose full of apple blossom and my head full of Gaara's voice. He had asked me to call him Gaara. Gaara, not Kazekage-sama. I had always called him Gaara in my head, but I hadn't so much as spoken to him until he left his three-man cell and entered the main core under my command. Still, even then, I hadn't called him Gaara. As with the rest of the men I dealt with, I called him by his last name. He was Mr. Sabaku, just as the twenty-year-old Chunin named Mido was called Mr. Nakamura. As soon as Gaara entered ANBU, even for the short month he spent as an active member, he was known as Tenuki. Finally, when he became Kazekage, that's what we called him. And now here he was, asking me to be his _personal _Taijutsu trainer and call him by his first name.

My head was reeling, and I took the rooftops back home. My mother was there, sitting in her favorite chair by the window. She was talking to somebody, and, as I entered from my bedroom window, I recognized Yuki's distinctive ice-chime voice and sharp, clear laugh. I wandered downstairs slowly, making my way through the kitchen and grabbing a small snack of what I like to call sushi for carnivores, AKA tissue-cut raw sirloin. I sauntered into the living room where my mother and Yuki were, chewing slowly on a piece of meat. As I sat down on the floor, my mother smiled at me, both of us watching Yuki, how her nose twitched at the sight of my snack. Idly, I noticed that she had rather a lot of thick makeup over the marks on her cheeks. I could barely detect their shape. She spoke. "Hi, Mikki! I was just talking to your mom, I hope you don't mind. Uh...What're you eating?"

I grinned, forgetting momentarily that my teeth probably had a light sheen of blood on them at the moment. "I call it sushi for carnivores. Want some?" I said, holding out a piece of meat in my chopsticks.

Yuki grimaced, still not parting her lips. "Thanks, but no thanks, Mikki. I prefer fish or _cooked_ meats. I don't really want to get something like worms."

I looked at my snack, setting it back on the plate gently. My mother smiled and said, "Well, nobody in this village has gotten worms of any kind, and Mikomi has never gotten sick from eating that stuff as she has since she was a little girl."

I went back to eating as Yuki and Mom discussed what sounded like medical something-or-other. I couldn't really tell, I only knew basic field medicine and had always cared more for swords and other lethal weapons than medicines. I swallowed a piece of meat and broke into their conversation when Yuki stopped speaking to catch her breath. "Mom, you'll never believe what happened to me a couple minutes ago!"

My mom raised an eyebrow. "You realized you were eating raw meat covered in blood?"

I raised a thin black eyebrow in return, mirroring her expression perfectly. "No. I spoke with the Kazekage."

"And that means you got in trouble again?" My mother just didn't get it.

"Uh, no. Okay, to make a long story short, I was asked to A) become his private Taijutsu tutor and B) call him by his first name."

My mother blinked. "Ah, I see. How's that little crush of yours holding up?"

I exploded, "MOM! I do NOT have a little crush!" and yet I knew my face was the color of my snack. Meanwhile, Yuki watched the exchange with no expression on her face. Then, she burst out laughing. Mom and I both turned to stare at her. She totally didn't notice her exposed cat fangs. I had a petulant pout on my face as I said, "What?"

She proceeded to fall off her chair. "Y-you-haha....You looked just like En-"

Here she stopped, her face falling. "Nothing. Sorry."

I raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. "Uh-huh. Sure. Anyway, I need to go to the library. Oh, by the way, Gaara also gave me clearance to enter ANBU."

Before my mother could protest, I swallowed my last piece of meat and did my Instantaneous Transport jutsu, disappearing with a fading outline.

* * *

I reappeared onto the top of the ANBU building, flipping down through an open window into the small, dark room I already knew was the recruitment office. A man, face in shadow, sat behind the desk, flipping through a small sheaf of papers. He looked up as I silently swung myself onto the floor. He spoke, his voice quiet, all emotion unreadable. "You must be the Kin'iroame girl, hm? I must say I am impressed. You are very quiet. This is good for an ANBU."

I stood cautiously. I was in my own village, but who knew just what went on in this dark building. I should not have been so worried. The man directed me out the nearby door, through a hall and into a small white room. Having grown up with a medic for a mother, I recognized a sterile environment when I saw one. A man sat on a straight-backed chair, soaking a needle in a tub of clear liquid. I realized that this was a tattoo needle. The man, who was about forty-five, had average chakra, but I could tell he wasn't a shinobi by the chair he sat in. As I entered farther into the room, I saw that it was a wheelchair. He smiled kindly, gesturing to me to sit on the small pouf near him. "Hello, child. Don't worry, if you're ANBU caliber, this shouldn't hurt in the slightest."

I sat on the little cushion, rolling up my right sleeve. The man swabbed my arm gently with a cloth, carefully covering every inch of skin on my shoulder so that everything was clean. He then took a cloth stencil off a tray, soaking it in the liquid. The spiraling shape cut into the cloth caught my eye. It wasn't any longer than a pencil, in fact, it was shorter. The tattoo artist carefully smoothed the stencil onto my skin, then picked up the needle. He put it into the tattoo machine, then turned to me. "Would you rather have red or black ink?"

I blinked, then replied. "Uh...Red. Please." I hadn't been aware that you could get different colors.

He smiled, inserted an ink cartridge into the machine and turned it on. He put it to my skin, pushed it slightly, and began. I merely felt a slight tingle, and it was over in a matter of moments. The man bound it carefully with clean bandages, cautioning me about its care. I thanked him, leaving the room. I was stopped short by the appearance of a bird-masked ANBU carrying a plain box. He looked at my bandaged shoulder, nodded, and mutely handed me the box. I carefully scanned its contents by scent. Nothing dangerous, not that I smelled. I looked up, and the bird-mask ANBU was gone. I opened the box in the dark, pleasantly cool hallway. Inside were four different masks, several paint pots, different thickness brushes and a note. The note read "To our newest agent: Pick one of these masks, paint a design, and pick an acceptable code name. It will be known to your cell commander. Good Luck!"

I shuffled the masks. One was a dog. Ick, no. Anybody ever heard of dog breath? Another was a, uh, well, I didn't know what it was , but it looked a lot like a cat-eared chicken. A griffin, maybe. That just wasn't me. A catlike mask appeared. Hm, possibly. I had always liked cats. Then, the last mask stole my breath. It wasn't the typical ANBU mask. It was catlike in general design, but the eyes were more almond-shaped and the ears rounded, like a lion's. It was cut off just below the nose. Perfect for someone like me, unusual and distinctive, but easy to make low-key. I picked it up, turning it over in my fingers. It was made of fine porcelain, lightweight and thin. Still, it was chakra-enhanced, strong beyond belief.

A name popped into my brain, almost like it had been told to me by another entity. _Shiku_, Lion's Roar. I took the paints and brushes, already planning my design. Yellow around the eyes, a black-lined cat nose, red in the ears, with a swirl of purple circling partway around the left ear. I closed the box, opening a nearby door and placing the other three masks on a convenient table. I entered the room, where bright sunlight streamed through the window, then swung out of the window. I landed on the roof of a residential unit, then changed course, heading for Kankuro's new apartment. Hopefully, Yuki would be there.

* * *

As I hopped over the rooftops of the village, I wondered at the strange familiarity of Yuki. She seemed like someone I knew, like she was a dear friend. I was sure by now, of course, that she would become one. She was very like me in several ways, height and weapon choice aside. While she had her gigantic executioner's blade, I preferred the slim, quick katana. But she had strange, animalistic characteristics, maybe more obvious than mine, but still like me. She had dual-colored hair, and she seemed to be hiding an old tragedy behind her ice-blue eyes. I landed on the upper deck of Kankuro's apartment, silently slipping through his 'back door'. I slid down the stair-rail, a childish habit of mine, and nearly crashed into Yuki, who had an apron around her middle. The scent of chocolate chip cookies was issuing from the decent kitchen, along with copious amounts of flour dust.

"Ah! Yuki!"

I flipped off the rail and high over Yuki's head. She threw up her oven-mitted hands in shock, and a tray of cookies went spiraling into the air. I landed, and Yuki, with surprising grace, caught the cookies on the tray. She screeched like a hawk, then tripped over nothing at all and fell flat on the stone floor, cookie tray smacking down with a bizarre metallic _flubba-flub_. She stood quickly, glaring at me for a moment, then realizing who I was.

"Oh, Mikki! I'm so sorry! I never pay any attention to things around me, especially when I'm baking!"

I merely smiled, hopefully in a kind way, and patted her on the shoulder, standing on tiptoes to do so.

"Oh, don't worry about me, Yuki. Those cookies smell delicious, how do you do that? My mom never has time, and I can't really cook much besides eggs and ramen."

She smiled quietly, still not parting her lips. "I really like to bake. I can make a lot of diferent things, and...some people...say that my festival cakes are the best in the Elemental Lands. Anyway, Kankuro had most of the stuff you would need for cookies. All I had to do was buy some chocolate chips. I wanted to bake them as a thank-you to your mother for healing me, the Kazekage for allowing me to stay, Kankuro and Temari for giving me a place to stay, and..."

She trailed off, her cheeks tinged pink. At least, that's what I thought. It was sort of hard to tell from almost a full foot below her, but she was definitely blushing when she spoe again, softly. "And you, for becoming my friend."

I smiled, and hugged her. I could only reach he waist, she was so tall. I stood on my tiptoes, but still felt like a three-year-old trying to hug her six-foot father. I let her go, smiling again. "In that case, can I eat one before I go to the library?"

"You've gotta leave?"

"Not right away. I came to show you my new tattoo!"

I carefully unwrapped the bandage. Yuki gasped, bending to get a better look. "Oh, wow! That's so cool!"

Of course, then I noticed that the tattoo looked an awful lot older than a few minutes. The skin around it was even back to its original color. I mean, I had always healed fast, but not _that _fast. It was very odd, so I bit into the cookie Yuki had handed me thoughtfully. Even when I was exclaiming over the sheer deliciousness of the cookie, delighting in its melting-chocolate-and-chewy-dough texture and taste, my overtly analytical mind was racing up the walls of my skull at breakneck (or something like that) speed. I finished the cookie, hugged Yuki, and body-flickered out the door halfway across the village, to my first lesson with Gaara.

Now, I will not tell you what ANBU was like. For one thing, I'm sworn to secrecy, and for another, it's extremely brutal and I don't want to go into it. What I _will_ tell you is what I found in that dark, especially arid corner of the extensive Suna Library. Of course, this is strictly confidential. I am about to assume that you will never harbor any ill intentions against any member of the Sand, Mist, or Leaf Villages, and that you have an extraordinary ability to keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, well... Let's just say ANBU would get involved. Take it from someone who was in that group, and believe me when I say that you would wish you had _never _asked me my story.

You still want to know? Okay, then. Let's do this.

* * *

**A/N: All Right! This chapter, while short, is finished. I couldn't resist a cliffhanger. Also, I have mad MAJOR updates to the previous chapters. I have even changed the way this story is being told, like Mikomi is telling the story many years in the future.**


	4. A Day of Surprises

**A/N: Fourth Chapter! Here, you will finally learn some **_**very **_**interesting things, all spawned from a combination of actual legend (though not necessarily from Japan) and my imagination farm of a mind! ;D **

**Please, if you have only come here because it's a new chapter, I have made major, MAJOR updates to the first three, please read them or you won't get what's going on!**

**We have now skipped approximately a month into the future. Yuki is still in Suna, due to a known criminal trying to track her down. Mikomi is going to the library just before she quits from ANBU. She wants access to the Restricted Section before she goes back to being a Jonin. This is the first chapter with a sorta-kinda-maybe fight scene.;) Please tell me if I need improvement, and compliments are good too! Let's begin!**

* * *

The darkened alcove that was the restricted, ANBU/Council/Kazekage-only area of the Suna Library was lit by a single lamp, bolted to the wall. Luckily for me, my night vision was excellent. I began to run my hand gently over the spines of books and the titles written on boxes of scrolls. I looked for anything on demons, Bijuu or otherwise. I found one large, dusty old tome entitled "Bijuu: The Chakra Monsters", an extremely old book with what appeared to be blood spattered on the cover that read "The Art of Sealing", which also had a silhouette of a many-tailed beast on it, and a box of scrolls called "Sunagakure Sealing History". In that last one, I was sure I would find an account of the sealing of Shukaku into Gaara, and gingerly replaced it. One last, ancient book caught my attention, and I hefted it down from the second shelf with the help of a ladder.

This book was so old that its pages were actually a great deal of tiny bones, inscribed with words which were filled with ink. The bones numbered in the hundreds of thousands, for the book was about the size of a medical text my mother kept. I hadn't been able to lift that thing until the last year, seeing as it weighed more than I did. The bones were linked by peeling animal-gut sinew. This book had to be hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. I blew at the dust that caked the cover. A thin layer flew off. For such a small amount of dust, it made a large cloud, and I coughed, waving the cloud away with my hand, my other arm clutching the large book. When I carried the ancient book over to the light, it still had a great amount of dust on it, covering the title, if it had one. Even so, it had left my arm and upper side of my body a grayish-brown color.

I wiped the book off, discovering the title almost at once. I didn't read it immediately, instead concentrating on beating my clothes free of the dust. When I looked at the book, I got right up and put the other two back. The title read "Children of the Moon: The Self-Sealing Bijuu". _This_ I had to read.

I opened the book. Its heavy cover hit the floor with a muffled _flump, _and I began to read.

_A thousand years before the Six-Paths Sage came into being, the Moon reigned supreme. While we see a glowing orb in the night sky, our ancestors saw a curled-up creature with ten tails. The legends this book is compiled of do not specify exactly what kind of creature, but it is rumored that the Moon took the form of a Ten-Tailed Wolf. The moon was believed to be the creation and source of all chakra, but many legends also state that she was the mother of the two greatest evils and the two greatest goods. _

_The evils were War and Fear. War took the form of a three-tailed, blood red cheetah, with glowing, murderous purple eyes, capable of bleeding the bravest warrior dry, and black markings, its tear tracks and black claws perpetually covered in blood. It took the name Senka, which did, indeed, mean War. It was bloodthirsty and violent, attacking without provocation regardless of the victim. All the children of the Moon were female, and Fear was no exception. She took the form of a spectral, five-tailed white tiger, striped in black. Her eyes, clear blue and cold like ice, could freeze a strong man in his tracks. She was merciless and cunning, with no ability to show mercy. She took pleasure in frightening living beings enough to feed her sister on their violent warmaking. She herself delighted in their fear, which was all the nourishment she required. She was called Osoreru, and lived up to her name like no other._

Osoreru? That was what Yuki had hissed. I continued reading, spellbound.

_Still, for every evil, there is an equal and opposite good. These good spirits were Justice and Balance. Justice was blind, and wore a black blindfold, for she had no eyes. A jaguar, she had four tails and was black as coal. She was covered in open spots, some shaped as stars These were far darker than her fur, and she had a starry white underbelly. She judged all fairly, and despite her blindness, had the power to see the future. For this reason, she was called Yogensha, the Seer or Prophet. She was kind, but could also be ruthlessly violent if need be. She was the one who judged that the Six-Paths Sage, whom she saw in a vision, was important to the future of the world, and that his creation must not be halted. So, she saved the ancestors of the Six-Paths Sage from certain death, protecting them with the help of the final sister, Balance, usually called Kinkou. _

_Kinkou was the youngest of the four, Yogensha being the oldest, with Osoreru next. Senka was the third, and took the brunt of a curse placed upon her sisters. She had once been a quiet, happy spirit, always ready to play and laugh. Of course, that was before a curse was placed on the sisters. Senka leapt in front of her elder sisters and baby sister. According to legend, Kinkou was a newborn at the time. The curse was cast by a human-like being, Death. His terrible, spinning red eyes cast a curse of recklessness and anger upon them. Senka blocked Death's curse from reaching the other sisters. This destroyed her original soul, replacing it with a violent being who delighted in war and slaughter. Occasionally, her original self would show through, but not often._

_Kinkou had two tails, taking on the form of a pure golden lioness. Her eyes were such a deep green that any male creature that looked into them would be instantly spellbound. A scar marred her left eye, a mark of a battle fought between Kinkou and Osoreru a hundred thousand years before the beginning of mankind, over something insignificant that no one remembered. Kinkou was deliberating and intelligent, easily deciphering hidden messages and codes. She was a creature of sand, loving the desert itself. Heat radiated from her body, and she warmed the world free of the Ice Ages created by Osoreru. She was more often than not playing pranks on her sisters instead of doing her job, because she believed that balance was best kept in motion. Usually, her ideas got her into trouble._

I stopped. Something was forcing my eyes away from the page. But what? When I heard a voice in my head, I began to think that maybe the book made you go insane.

**_Mikomi...Stop reading, child....This is not for the eyes of anyone, not even a carrier of one of the mentioned spirits._**

What. The. Hell.

**_No...Close, though._**

_Who the hell are you? _I thought furiously, scanning the room.

**_Oh, nobody special. Just a lioness demon called Kinkou._**

_Kinkou? Okay, now I'm positive this book makes people go insane._

A chuckle, in my head but also around me. I realized that _I_ had laughed, even though I was apprehensive versus happy.

**_You're funny. I knew I would be like you once your mind was open enough to hear me._**

_Uh...Care to explain?_

My thoughts were clearly not my own.

_**Simple, hon. I voluntarily leaped into the future to seal myself and my sisters into human girls. We needed some way to be kept in check. First, I sealed Yogensha into a baby from a noble family, in an extremely small shinobi village. The baby had been born blind anyway, which made her the perfect candidate. Next, I sealed Osoreru inside the girl who showed up here almost a month ago, Yuki. Yuki seems to have great control over her, proving that my choice was correct. **_

_Woah! Yuki IS a Jinchuuriki! I knew it!_

_**Well, yes. Then, I traveled around looking for a little child for Senka. I picked a baby girl out in snow, near the Leaf Village in winter. So far, Senka hasn't shown up yet, so I must have chosen correctly. That baby got picked up by an old man in robes just after the sealing was complete. As for me, I found you, just born, but already gazing at your parents. I can tell the difference between intelligence and reflex, and you were analyzing every detail of your parent's faces. So, I chose you, voluntarily sealing myself. Your parents didn't notice anything except you, and what seemed to be your first chakra flare. So, I watched you as you gave a toothless baby smile, burped, and fell asleep, putting me out like a light until now.**_

Okay...So that meant I was a Jinchuuriki. Like Yuki. Like Gaara.

**_No kidding. You just guessed?_**

_Well, I, uh...yeah. It's a bit of a shock to find out I've been the host to a legendary ancient power my entire life._

My next thought was about Gaara, and what he'd do if I stayed here all day...

"Oh my god! I'm late for that lesson!"

* * *

I listened to Kinkou's laughter even as I bolted toward the training ground set aside for the Kazekage's taijutsu training. Gaara was doing much better than he had at first, and I intended to quit ANBU right away so I could tutor him full-time. ANBU was too much for me, for while it's true I'm sadistic and occasionally cruel, I'm still a softhearted pain in the rear. Believe me, even becoming a captain in record time didn't feel good when I did some of the stuff I despised the most, like torture. I was a feared ANBU, and I was now listed in the bingo book, but only as Shiku. I was also called the Golden Lioness, and only now did I realize how fitting that truly was.

As I skidded into the training area, I spotted Gaara leaning on a wall, already in his combat clothes. He had hit a growth spurt in the first week of our training, and he now dwarfed me by a foot and a half. He was about the same height as Kankuro now, and could look Yuki, who had stayed under the protection of the Kazekage, in the eye. Still, he seemed to enjoy training with me, and was quickly adapting my style into a totally different form unlike anything I had ever seen before.

"You're late, Mikomi. Unusual. Is everything all right?"

"Oh, everything's fine, I just got a little distracted at the library."

"Hm. So, are we working on kicks, blocks, or other methods today?"

"Actually, I thought we'd go to the oasis and spar. I think you could take down the average ANBU pretty easily by now, seeing as you learn so fast."

"Without the need to sleep at night, I have far more time to practice."

"Right. Okay, shall we go?"

He nodded once, and we ran towards the medium-sized oasis just inside the walls often used as a swimming pool. Yuki often frequented it now, and she was quite happy there. However, I privately hoped nobody was there today, since the Kazekage engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a known ANBU would arouse some concerns. When we arrived my wish had somehow been answered. There wasn't a soul in sight.

I turned to Gaara, raising an eyebrow. "And what do you do before a fight starts?"

He obediently shifted into his stance, used to my style of teaching by now. He slid his left foot back, twisting his hips to the side and bracing his weight into the ground, his knees bent. His body was facing the same general direction, with his head turned slightly, glaring straight at me. I paid no attention to his face, even though it was gorgeous. That would be a _bad _idea, particularly now. Instead, I focused on his arms, checking how he held them. His right was held at shoulder level, elbow bent up and hand curled into a fist. However, his left hand was loose, back next to his upper left leg. Still, my trained eye spotted how his hand and arm were tensed slightly, denoting his readiness to whip that hand forward, either with a kunai or to deliver a swift but incapacitating chop to the neck, back or leg.

I nodded in approval. "Very good, Gaara."

Without another word, I took my stance. I turned my entire body to the side, spreading my feet apart, carefully making sure that my balance was perfect. For someone of my size, if you got your balance off, it would all be over. I then turned my head to Gaara, glaring right back. My spread arms, also at my sides, were tensed and ready, my hands curled into tiny fists with enough force to whack a full-grown man into a wall. I wasn't very strong at all, merely capable of placing my punches in such a strategic way as to get maximum impact.

I grinned at him.

"Begin."

With that, we were off in a whirlwind of dust and dry leaves from the oasis' surrounding palm trees and bushes. Gaara was speedy enough, and what impressed me all the more was his willpower. He was fighting me, actually _landing hits _on me, at the same time as controlling his automatic sand shield defense so he could fight normally. I got in a punch to his jaw and a kick to his lower left chest before he landed a kick that actually sent me into the water. In a flurry of fists, water droplets and wind, we continued back and forth, blocking each other quite quickly. If any civilian or lower ninja had watched us now, they would see a dust cloud and a blur.

I sprinted behind Gaara, whacking him between the shoulder blades. He landed in the oasis, and five minutes later, the two of us were caked in light layers of mud. He leaped at me, and I barely dodged him. His far larger frame and advanced height should have given him an advantage, but I had taught him the original form of his strange style, so I knew most of his moves. I caught his next punch, using all the force my body could muster to send him flying into a nearby tree. It splintered, and he slumped to the ground.

I didn't let my guard down, and sure enough, he soon disappeared. A sand clone. My senses prickled uncomfortably, and I turned and blocked a flying kunai with one of my own. I smirked.

"Whatever happened to just Taijutsu, huh?" I called, somewhat miffed.

He appeared in a flurry of sand, right in front of me with a matching, but very slight, slight smirk on his face. "I got bored and wanted to change it up."

I grinned wildly, disappearing from in front of his mud-caked body. I reappeared above him in the air.

"Sky Technique: Avenging Angel!"

I flipped in midair, executing a sort of dive. Kunai appeared in my hands, and I crossed them. If I landed this, he would be out like a light. Unfortunately, I slammed into the ground a second too late. I shook the new dust layer off, searching for him. He appeared on my left, spinning in an attempt to land a kick to my head. However, he had misjudged the distance and gotten his trajectory off, so he missed. However, he had also overbalanced, so he fell the rest of the way. He slammed into me, throwing us both into the pool of clear blue water.

We landed hard in the shallow end, and as the water settled, I felt his weight over me. I wasn't positive what was going on, but the next thing I knew, I was looking straight into his eyes. They were the same clear aqua color as the water we were in. Our fall had splashed the mud off of us, so his pale, perfect skin shimmered slightly. He was wide-eyed, and looked extremely innocent. The black skin around his eyes was the same color as the black part of my hair. Just as I was about to laugh and try to get up, he did something I would never have expected, not from him.

He bent his head just a tiny bit, somewhat cautiously, closed his eyes, and pressed his lips warily to mine.

My eyes snapped shut, and I couldn't stop myself. I extricated my arms from my sides, winding them over his wide shoulders. His upper arms were flat on the pool floor, and he wrapped them around me, pulling me up with him into a kneeling position. One of his strong hands fisted into my hair, pushing me closer. I sighed, and my mouth opened slightly. He moved me onto his lap, pressing me to him. I cradled his head in my hands, the soft texture of his hair surprising me. I hadn't expected it to be so silky and smooth. Of course, my thoughts only stayed on his hair for a second before skipping straight back to his mouth.

He was acting purely on instinct, so I guessed. As my mouth opened a bit more, he slipped his tongue in. I gasped for air, and was (figuratively) floored by his sheer ability. I was _extremely _aware that he had not had any experience whatsoever with girls, and while I had never kissed anyone either, I was quickly mirroring him. Our tongues battled for dominance, and I have to admit that he won.

When we finally pulled apart and opened our eyes, I simply stared. He stared back, his arms still around me. He blinked once, tilting his head quizzically. I watched his face for any sign of anger, malice, or any other emotion. All I saw was shock. I'm sure I had an almost identical expression on my face, and I carefully closed my slightly open mouth. He did the same, and then withdrew his arms, but made no move to remove my own from his shoulders. I finally spoke at that moment.

"I'm sorry."

He frowned. "Sorry for what?"

I removed my arms, but when my hands slid into my lap, he held them between his far larger palms.

"You did nothing wrong, Mikomi."

"Yes I did!"

He was extraordinarily calm. "What could you possibly have done? I made a fundamental mistake that led to an extremely enjoyable experience."

Once again, I was floored. "Enjoyable? You really think so?"

He smirked. "Of course. I believe Kankuro told me that I was..."

"Was what?"

He blushed slightly, an extremely rare event that I had only seen on a few occasions, usually when Kankuro cracked a dirty joke.

"Kankuro said I was attracted to you, and you to me. Of course, he could have been joking, but you certainly affect me very differently than any other girl I know."

"Wha-"

He held a hand to my lips, still holding my hands in his other one. "Shh. I think he was right."

"You do?"

"Yes. I always feel...nervous...around you. I have noticed that you seem jumpier than usual when you know I'm around. I've seen you with Yuki, and you are infinitely calmer with anyone but me. I've also observed that your chakra flares up whenever I speak to you."

It was true. I was attracted to him, believe me. Everything about him was interesting to me. I didn't care that he was a Jinchuuriki, not even before I figured out that I was one. I remembered that last part of the legend I had read about Kinkou before she intervened. _She was a creature of sand, loving of the desert itself. _Technically, Gaara _was _the desert. He could control sand, and he was the leader of our village. Everything made sense to me then, and I looked at him again.

"Are you saying you like me?"

He frowned again. "I...well, yes. I think. I am not exactly well versed in matters of emotion."

I smiled softly, remembering his surprise kiss. He tasted like blackberries, my favorite fruit.

"I think you were pretty good. From what I'm told, many guys are far more apprehensive."

"And you don't...mind?"

"Mind? Are you crazy?" I laughed. "I've honestly wished for that exact event only a million times!"

Gaara smiled, an actual smile, no mere quirk of the lips. "In that case, I think it would be best if we no longer denied our mutual attraction."

"You mean like a couple?"

I was flushed, probably the color of a beet. By now, I was surprised nobody had shown up and seen us yet. Gaara was still holding my hands, and he lifted one to his mouth, kissing it gently.

"I believe so."

* * *

And so, I went home that afternoon with the first kiss of the Kazekage lingering on my lips and a dinner date set for the next night. I flopped into bed after a bowl of instant ramen and a quick shower, exhausted but happy. My mom was working the night shift at the hospital for the moment, and she wasn't home when I came in.

As I drifted to sleep, I remembered the parting kiss Gaara had given me before we ran to our respective homes to dry off and change. Just as soft and sweet as the partially accidental first kiss, his hand had remained on my face for a moment before he disappeared in a whirl of sand.

* * *

**A/N: Too sappy? I'm concerned, as that was my first ever romantic scene. The relationship between the two will be developing, and I would love ideas on how to improve it if I need to. Thank you for reading, and I hope to post the next chapter soon!**


	5. Frozen in Place

**A/N: Yay! Chapter 5! I'm on a roll here, finally! I don't really know what to write next, but this chapter is full of pure, undiluted romantic Gaara fluff and-dare I say it-love. I also have a page of Mikomi's expressions at this site: http:/gaaraisking(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Mikomi-expressions-chart-181267365**

**Just replace the (dot)s with a . Thanks!  
**

**

* * *

**Sun shone through my window, straight into my eyes. I covered my face with my pillow, but the early desert sunlight was relentless, its golden light boring through my fluffy pillow.

"Mikomi?"

It was my mom, and she was shaking me.

"Five more minutes!"

"No! Get up right now, young lady! Temari's here, and she brought Yuki!"

This woke me up.

"Okay, okay!"

I scrambled out of bed, grabbed my hairbrush, and began attacking my bedhead. I got it under control in about five minutes (years upon years of practice), so I was out of my room yanking a black shirt over my head before Yuki and Temari had even sat down. I pounded down the stairs, nearly falling into the big poofy armchair that I loved so much it was slowly unraveling itself.

"Hi, guys! What brings you here at-"

I checked the clock on the wall.

"Nine thirty?"

Temari grinned evilly, and I suddenly felt chilled to the bone.

"We're taking you shopping."

Oh. No.

"Nooooo! Please, Temari, don't make me! Please!"

Yuki smiled at me too, still barely showing her teeth. Damn, they were both in this together.

"Aw, Mikki! I only agreed because I'm not the one being shopped for!"

As I filed away that interesting tidbit of info for later, I glared at Temari.

"And what, pray, is the occasion that has warranted this?"

Temari's grin widened, if that was at all possible. "Your _date_ with my baby brother."

Oh crap. I was going to die.

"What?"

Oh, just great. Now my mom knew.

"Mikomi, what in Kami's name is going on?"

"Uhhh..."

Temari leaped to my rescue, then embarassed me further. "Oh, Nanaho, you mean she didn't say anything?"

"No...what is it, Temari?"

"Gaara asked her out yesterday!"

Now _that _was the understatement of the year. Actually, he had fallen on me, kissed me, admitted his surprise feelings, and asked me to dinner. I was sinking lower and lower into my squashy chair, shoving myself further into the cushions. Temari continued spilling everything Gaara must have told her.

"He's taking her to dinner tonight. And so I thought, well, this is Gaara we're talking about here. He doesn't really know all that much about dating and girls. So, I told him I would buy him something civilian he could wear to dinner, and I'd pick out her dress for her. Kankuro told Yuki, and she decided to help me. Right, Yuki?"

Yuki nodded her head, and that was when I freaked out.

"No way! I will NOT be shopping for a dress! I don't know what you were smoking last night, Temari, but you can't seriously be planning to drag me there!"

As soon as I said it, I knew I was screwed. Yuki and Temari both looked at me with evil little smirks on their faces, and, in the back of my mind, I heard Kinkou, who had used my dreams to communicate with me all night.

**_You, my sweet vessel, just sealed your own fate._**

"Oh crap!"

The two far taller women each grabbed one of my arms. I dug my ninja sandals into the carpet, hoping against all hope that I would succeed in staying put. However, my mother decided that my ripping up the carpet would be a bad thing, and she picked up my feet and helped force me to the door, at which point she stood in the doorway and waved as my two friends dragged me away, aiming for Suna's only department store.

I gave up and let them pull me along, and then I walked with them as the scent of melted chocolate reached my nose. Suna's chocolates store made their chocolate on site, and they imported their cacao beans from Jungle country, which happened to be the finest grower of cacao beans. I loved their ultimate chocolate-lover sundae, which was six types of chocolate all mixed and melted over their midnight triple-chocolate coffee crunch ice cream, which I loved and always bought when I came in. I spoke to Temari, whose gaze was resolutely fixed on the dress store.

"I won't complain if we go to Shokora Tengoku." Literally, Chocolate Heaven.

She grinned. "Oh, don't worry. Yuki hasn't gone there once yet, so we have to make her, right?"

"Right."

Yuki's ice-colored eyes widened. "A chocolate store?"

I laughed. "Yeah, it's the best store ever! They have dark chocolate, and white chocolate, and chili chocolate-"

I nattered about all the chocolate in Shokora Tengoku until we were in the door of Aki's Fine Clothing. Then, Temari immediately waved the girl at the counter over. The young civilian stared, awestruck, at the three of us. Temari, in her black outfit with her huge fan on her back, cut quite an imposing figure by herself, but Yuki was simply scary. Now that I thought about it, that was probably partially due to the demon, Osoreru. Of course, her massive height, impossibly large sword, and multiple scars (all on her long legs) all attributed a certain air of menace. Her clearly visible Mist headband on her forehead didn't help either, and nor did her icily shining blue eyes.

I, on the other hand, was only scary if you knew what I could do. Compared to my two friends, I was tiny and thin, with such long hair that you could cut half of it off and stuff twenty pillows. Thankfully, I had managed to tame my still-damp mane into a braid, so it would be somewhat wavy when I finally took it out. I had even managed to pull back my spiky golden bangs. This made my thin, pointed face and slit-pupiled, purple-marked eyes stand out quite clearly.

As soon as the young woman was in front of us, Temari spoke commandingly, with an edge to her voice any sensei would envy.

"I'm here to fit Mikomi for a dress."

She waved at me. The girl nodded and picked up the phone on her counter. Her voice echoed over the store loudspeaker.

"Junko, I have a fitting appointment at the entrance, Junko, I have a fitting appointment at the entrance."

She waved us to the left. "Please wait here, our seamstress will be with you shortly."

We had been waiting for about a minute and a half when a short, squat civilian woman bustled through a nearby door with a roll of measuring tape and several dresses. I shrank further back against Yuki, but Temari, seeing what I was trying to do, yanked me forward by the arm.

"Are you the seamstress?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, my name is Junko."

Temari smiled. "Hi. Mikomi here," she gave my arm a pull, "Needs something for a really, really nice dinner."

Junko looked me over, her expert eyes taking note of everything from my height to my foot size. "I think I have something nice I can tailor."

We all followed her to a back room. She dug in a large closet for a moment, then drew out a plastic garment bag.

"Here we are. Layered cotton under watered silk. It should just require a small hem, maybe draw in the waist and shoulder. Here, try it on."

I tooke the bag, entering a small dressing room. I removed the dress from the bag and gasped. It was absolutely gorgeous, a bluish-purple color. It had flecks of gold thread throughout it, and it was soft and supple in my fingers. I put it on, and left the dressing room for an evaluation.

Temari said, "Oh, how cute!" at the exact same moment that Junko said, "It's too wide in the waist."

Yuki sniggered from her corner. Of course, Junko was a professional, and even I could tell that the dress was so much bigger at the waist than my body was that it hung on me like an extremely fancy paper bag. The woman was on me before I could say "How mean." She had a fabric marker in one hand and a measuring tape in another. As she wrote notes on the dress, I stood with my arms outstretched, a bewildered expression on my face. Yuki and Temari, meanwhile, were completely ignoring me. They were looking at a rack of men's shirts, as well as at a tiny sheet of paper. I was distracted again when Junko tugged at me.

"I'm done. Take it off and come back in an hour."

I nodded, reentering the dressing room. When I exited, handing Junko the dress, Temari looked up, grinning cheekily.

"Whaddaya think of this one?"

She held up a dark navy collared shirt. It had black buttons and long sleeves, and would, untucked, fall to just below the average man's belt. Beside her, Yuki held up a pair of khaki slacks and a pair of black ones.

"Which pants?"

My jaw dropped. "You're asking me?"

Temari rolled her eyes. "Well, duh. You're the one having to walk around with him, he needs to look good."

I deliberated for a moment. "Black."

Temari grinned. "Okay, so now we're done! We know what we're getting!"

With that, she made a beeline to the checkout counter, then headed straight for Shokora Tengoku.

* * *

I was nervous. _Very _nervous. Gaara was supposed to meet me at my house in twenty minutes, and though I knew how shallow it seemed, I couldn't seem to do anything with my hair. Yuki had suggested I leave it down, Temari that I tie it with a ribbon, and my mother that I should pin it. I had taken it out of the braid after I put on the new dress, which did fit wonderfully and looked absolutely stunning, flattering what little figure I had. It fell to just below my knees. My long locks were wavy and silken, so I decided to combine the advice of both my mother and Yuki and pin the shorter layers of hair back while leaving the rest down.

My moment of teenage obsessiveness over, I began pacing in the living room. My mother was watching some soap opera on our tiny TV, but I could see her tapping her fingers. She was probably more nervous than I was. Of course, she still didn't know about the fact that Gaara and I had already kissed. If she did, I didn't know what she would do. She fidgeted for another minute, her crimson hair falling over her right eye.

"Mikomi, sit down. You're going to wear a hole in the floor."

"But, Mom-"

"No buts, Mikomi. Sit."

I sat on the edge of the couch with a sigh, trying to massage feeling into my left little toe. Temari had decided to buy me very expensive, nice heels, but the toes narrowed uncomfortably. But I was a shinobi. It was nothing.

"Mikomi?"

"Yes, Mom?"

"Home by ten."

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Before I could even stand up, my mother was opening the door.

"Ah, Gaara-sama. Wonderful timing. Please, come in."

"Thank you, Nanaho-san."

As my mother closed the door, Gaara walked in to the room, and I had to hold myself from gasping. Maybe I was biased, but the combination of his dark clothing and flaming hair looked great. His eyes were glittering, the aqua color darkened by his clothing. He smiled, cautiously at first, but then he lost the unsure edge. I stood, carefully balancing on my high heels.

"Hi."

Damn. Was that all I could say, _really? _That was so lame. Fortunately, Gaara seemed to be just as nervous.

"Hello."

We stood there staring at each other for a full minute before my mother intervened.

"Well? Are you two going to say something aside from 'hi', or are you going to keep your _date?_"

I didn't really like the way my mom stressed the word 'date', but I knew she was right. Gaara obviously did too, since he turned slightly pink and cleared his throat.

"Of course. We should go."

My mother smiled. "Oh, Mikomi, I'm so proud of you!"

I turned pink. "Mom..."

But I couldn't halt her. "Your father would be so proud!"

Now this was getting out of hand. "Uh, Mom..."

My mom blinked. "Oh. Right. Get going already, what are you waiting around for?"

She began shooing us out, and we exited my house into the cooler night air of our desert village. Happily, the streets were almost totally empty, with the sole exception of a small family takng an evening walk.

I glanced sideways at Gaara. I felt better than I had all day, but I still felt a little uncertain. What was I supposed to do? Should I say something? I didn't know. So I just walked silently beside him, waiting for something to happen. Gaara, thankfully, spoke almost immediately.

"Would you like to know where we are going?"

I turned to him, smiling cautiously. "Of course. Where?"

Gaara smiled again, wryly. "So would I."

"You mean you don't know where we're going?"

"Not exactly. I'm not positive as to what your preferred location would be, so I had figured I would let you choose."

I thought for a minute. What a great opportunity! He was allowing _me _to pick.

"What do you like?"

"I'm not picky. Whatever you like."

"Hmmm..."

"I...that is, um...I thought that maybe we could eat and, uh, take a walk or...something..."

I could just see him closing his eyes in exasperation at his clear nervousness. So, I decided to dispel some of his uncertainty.

"Sure. That'd be really nice, Gaara."

It was the first time I'd said his name all day. He gave a slight jerk like he hadn't been expecting me to say that. He turned his head, and stopped. I stopped too, and waited. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, then closed it again. Instead, he reached for my hand, clasping my tiny palm in his large, sand-calloused one.

"You are supposed to hold hands on a...date...right?"

I smiled. "I would guess so. I'm just as new to this as you are."

He smiled, too, and we continued walking toward the restaurant district of the village. I thought about the restaurants there, and I decided on one of my favorites.

"How about the Akabeko? Their beef stew is delicious."

"That sounds fine to me."

* * *

After a very quick walk past the curious people of the village, Gaara had secured, in his blunt, no-nonsense way, a place in the back of the Akabeko. The waitress, a girl my own age named Kimi, had gasped softly at us and darted away to the kitchen to get water. So, we were left alone in the small, traditional room. A very long silence filled the air, as neither one of us knew what we were supposed to be saying. I decided to take the initiative.

"So how was work?"

Oh, man. Did that sound stupid or what?

"Actually, it was fine. I processed your request to leave ANBU today, and I'm able to say it went through without any glitches. You're getting a potential genin team in three months."

"Really? I've never really taught genin before...should be interesting."

"Glad you don't have any problems with it. How was your day?"

I laughed and began telling him about being dragged to the store by his sister. When I finished, he smiled.

"You think that was bad?"

"What, and your day was worse?"

"If you consider my entire lunch hour being spent listening to Kankuro give me 'The Talk', then yes.'

I choked on my glass of water. "Oh, man! I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be. Temari beat him to it almost a year ago." He was clearly smirking now. Before I could say anything, the waitress bustled through the door with food, and we quietly started to eat.

* * *

After a quiet and delicious meal, Gaara attempted to pay for it, but was overruled by the manager, who insisted on placing the meal "On the house". We left quickly, the darkening sky setting the stone buildings aglow. Gaara and I walked aimlessly for a while before he turned towards the oasis. We ended up on the sandy beach. I took off my heels and plopped carelessly onto the sand, not caring in the slightest about the dress.

"You're going to ruin that dress."

"So? I don't wear dresses unless forced."

"But I like it!"

I blinked. "You do?"

He blushed again. "It looks very beautiful on you. Ninja attire isn't exactly flattering most of the time."

I nodded, positive my face was turning pink. "More functional. It's always strange when my mother's not wearing a stethoscope around her neck."

"If only to give civilians or refugees the feeling of being examined by a non-shinobi."

"True enough."

We were silent for another moment, watching the full moon. The only sound was that of the gently stirring water and...were those...footsteps? My eyes unconsciously flicked to the left, where the sound was coming from.

"Gaara-am I insane, or are there...footsteps?"

Gaara frowned. "You're only insane if I am, too. I hear them."

Our voices had dropped to the barest whisper. Gaara crooked his lips to one side in a rueful sort of half-smile. "Or maybe I'm insane, and you know it, so you're playing along."

"Of course not, I seriously hear footsteps. Not at a normal pace, either. To slow, too deliberate. Almost as if the person walking is in a trance, or asleep."

"But they're too light for someone sleepwalking. They're like bare feet. Or paws."

I listened for another moment. They seemed to be getting farther away, but...they were closer at the same time. And it sounded like a bipedal gait, not like an animal summon.

Then, something white appeared on the opposite shore of the pool. It was nearly six feet tall, humanoid, but...not. I knew Gaara had once become a demonic form of himself at full moon, but he had gained enough mental control over the Shukaku that it no longer affected him. I had felt Gaara's beastly aura from my bedroom on several occasions, just like everyone else in the village with the mildest shinobi training. This was different. This was worse.

The white shape resolved into a clear image, at which both Gaara and I gasped. No human could look like this.

Sleek, shining ice-white hair flowed to the figure's mid-back. Huge, rounded cat ears showed above the hair, glowing white as well. The figure, clearly female, wore a sleeveless, beltless white robe with splits up the sides of the long legs, which gleamed with white fur patterned with black stripes. The arms were the same, and the long-fingered, delicate hands were tipped with inch-long, curved black nails. The figure's feet were huge, and they actually appeared to be paws. They even had long black claws.

By this time, the figure had walked onto the pool, standing directly in the center. But not like a shinobi. White mist billowed all around it, drifting out onto the oasis, and I shivered with cold. Desert nights can be cold, it's true, but this was a different kind of cold. The mist blew to the sides of the strange female creature, revealing its paws again.

It was standing on a sheet of ice. The water that had been lapping gently at the shore where Gaara and I had been sitting was silvery and still. Glittering in the moonlight, the ice created an exact reflection of the creature. It tilted its head up, revealing more white-and-black striped fur that probably covered its entire body. A strange, teardrop-shaped jewel glittered in the center of a black circle on its forehead, impossibly blue. You could clearly see large fangs. When it opened its eyes, something inside me wrenched.

Ice-colored blue eyes, colder than cold, and more terrifying than the worst genjutsu. They were Yuki's eyes, but they were her eyes if she had been raised in the Mist Village's ancient history, the truly dark days of the Blood Mist Village. They were the eyes of a monster.

I clutched convulsively at my heart, which was thudding irrationally. Gaara, when I forced my head aside to look, was wild-eyed, the first time I had ever seen him scared. He stood with the slightest of movements, but the creature, who I finally realized to be Osoreru, Yuki, or both, took no notice. She merely raised her head to stare directly at the moon.

Gaara pulled me off the ground so fast I couldn't say a word. I wouldn't have been able to anyway, for my brain seemed frozen, just like the surface of the oasis. He scooped me up and ran, while I stared, stunned, at one of my best friends cloaked in the form of a spectral tiger-demon, a monstrous creature from the earliest edges of time.

* * *

The further away from the oasis that we got, the better I began to feel. Gaara too, as the tension in his arms and neck visibly loosened. We stopped about a block away from my house, and Gaara tightened his loosening hold.

"What the hell was that?"

Another first. Gaara had never sworn in front of me before.

"I-i don't know...but I didn't like it."

"That settles it. I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"Beg pardon? I have a_ mother _and a_ curfew_."

Gaara buried his nose in my hair. "I honestly don't give a damn. If it makes you happier, I'll let you go to bed, then come in through your window."

"That is so Twilight."

"Damn it, Mikomi!"

I stared at him, shocked.

"I _REFUSE _to leave you alone when that...that _creature _is on the loose! I don't care what this is like, I'm scared! I'm never scared! That thing even scared Shukaku!"

He shut his mouth hastily.

"Gaara, it's okay. I know and I don't care. I need to tell you something very important tomorrow, but that experience took a lot out of me. I'll agree to those terms. We should put on a good act for my mom, then give me...ten minutes. Okay?"

He thought about it for all of five seconds. "Done."

* * *

Placating my mother was easy enough, and by the time I returned from the shower in my pajamas (consisting of Happy Bunny pants and a green tank top), my mother was asleep and Gaara was waiting in my room. He'd chosen my desk chair as his perch, and as I came in, he said, "You're right, this is very Twilight. And that was twenty minutes."

I grinned. "Oops."

He smirkd a little. "You look cute."

"Uh, I'm in my pajamas."

"Yes, and?..."

"Forget it. Good night, Gaara."

I clambered into bed. Gaara immediately sat on the edge. He drew his fingers through his hair nervously, then leaned down to kiss me. Even scared, he still had the ability to make me melt like a bowl of Jell-O. When he released my mouth, he smiled. "Good night."

"Good night."

* * *

**A/N: So, so sorry I took so long on this! I wanted to make it REALLY good, so here's hoping my time was not wasted! I'm not trying to bash Twilight in any way at all. Totally coincidental, I assure you. This will be updated sporadically, as with all my other slowly growing stories, so if you want to know how a particular chapter of a story is going, message me! I think the next update will be either _Scarecrow _or _Shinobi Element_(AKA my Harry Potter/Naruto crossover) **

**Oh, and I know Gaara is quite OOC here, but nobody's really ever seen his personal side. Maybe he would be like that, given the chance. If you really want it to e accurate, too bad! Call it artistic license or creative leeway.**

**Special thanks to Jayde Malao(owner of Yuki) for nagging this chapter out of my brain! If it weren't for her, none of this stuff would ever get past Chapter One, incomplete!**


End file.
